Washington Post to expand newsroom
Defying downward trend in the newspaper industry, the
Post is set to finish the year as a profitable company. Bloomberg pic WASHINGTON: The Washington Post, purchased three years ago by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, will turn a profit this year and expand its newsroom, defying the downward trend in the newspaper industry.
A memo to staff this month from Post publisher Fred Ryan said the newspaper has been helped by its digital efforts and will be launching new “initiatives” next year.
“Thanks to the incredible work of the entire team, the Washington Post will finish this year as a profitable and growing company,” said Ryan.
“In addition to reinforcing our belief that there is a viable business model in quality journalism, this will provide additional funding for several new initiatives that build upon the successes of this year.”
“The newsroom was larger this year than last year, and it will grow even more next year,” he added.
The newspaper will create a new “rapid-response investigative team” to add to the investigations team, and hire more staff for video, breaking news and other areas.
The Post is likely to add at least 60 positions to boost its newsroom to around 750, as it aims to compete with the New York Times and its staff of 1,300, according to a Politico article by media analyst Ken Doctor.
The paper’s growth comes as much of the traditional newspaper industry remains mired in a deep slump as readers migrate to digital platforms and advertising and subscription revenue declines.
“The Washington Post shattered all traffic records in the past year, passing traditional competitors and the largest digital sites,” said the memo.
“With monthly unique visitors pushing 100 million in the United States and 30 million from around the world, our traffic has increased by 50 per cent in the past year. AFP